Spirit Particle Disintegrator

"Where are you going, Kane?" Harry and Ron jogged a few steps to catch up with Kane, then saw the brain on top of his head.

"Whoa, is that a cowboy hat? It looks so cool!" Ron said enviously as he looked at the hat on Kane's head.

"If you want one, how about I make you one?" Kane raised an eyebrow at Ron, who nodded without hesitation. Kane pulled out some spiderweb from his pocket, his hands moving twice in a blur before he made an exquisite top hat.

"My hat started out like this too. If you want it shaped like a cowboy hat, just press it into shape." After speaking, Kane looked at Harry and pulled out more spiderweb.

Harry hurriedly shook his head. He rather liked his messy hair, and besides...

A figure he was not especially eager to see slowly appeared behind Kane.

"What is that white material in your hand?" Snape asked quietly, appearing as abruptly as a ghost.

"Uh... spiderweb." Kane turned around awkwardly. Seeing Snape reminded him of the stunt he had pulled in Potions class before, and he suddenly felt a little guilty toward the professor.

Snape let out an understanding, "Ah~," as though he had recalled Kane's special magical ability to alter living creatures' forms. Then he continued, "From those Acromantulas in the Forbidden Forest? I recall that you and Hagrid are on fairly good terms, aren't you?"

Kane nodded. They were indeed on good terms, but why had Snape brought that up? What did spiders have to do with Hagrid?

"Um, so?"

"So Hagrid never told you that those spiders in the Forbidden Forest, the ones that gnaw on human brains like nuts, are his pets?" After saying that, Snape pushed open the Potions classroom door and walked inside. When Kane heard that the Acromantulas were all Hagrid's pets, his head was filled with countless question marks beneath his hair-hat.

"No way. Really? Those giant spiders in the Forbidden Forest are Hagrid's pets? If Hagrid finds out what I did, won't he cut ties with me?"

"Mm... hard to say." Harry scratched his head, not daring to make any promises. Ron, meanwhile, shook his head. "Probably not. They're spiders, after all. How weird would Hagrid's taste have to be to keep spiders as pets? I still think Snape was just messing with you."

Looking at Harry and Ron's completely different opinions, Kane felt neither of them had said anything useful. Just then, a reliable adult appeared with a bang.

"Maxwell, you tell me." Kane looked toward Maxwell.

"Professor Snape is a serious and aloof man. If he did not want something from you, he would never have chosen to speak with you. Considering your performance in Potions class, he can hardly avoid you fast enough," Maxwell explained.

Kane immediately understood the implication. "I have something he needs, but he can't bring himself to ask me for it directly. So he pointed out that the Acromantulas I killed were Hagrid's pets, giving me a reason to ask him for help. Since he said that, he must have a solution, and then we can make an equal trade."

"So what he needs..." Kane looked at the remaining spiderweb in his hand. "It can't be this stuff, can it?"

"Kane, what's wrong?" Harry asked when he saw Kane suddenly spacing out. Kane quickly came back to himself and shook his head. "Nothing. I need to see Professor Snape about something. You guys go ahead, and remember to bring me food."

With that, Kane walked straight over and knocked on the Potions classroom door.

Harry and Ron's mouths both twitched at the sight. After Charms, Transfiguration, and Defense Against the Dark Arts classes, Kane had always stayed behind voluntarily to get extra lessons from the professors.

And now this Kane, who had turned Potions into a cooking class, still could not resist reaching his claws toward Snape too?

"I bet Snape's furious."

"I'll bet Potions gets canceled next week because he's that furious."

Harry and Ron bantered as they left the corridor, and the Potions classroom door opened in perfect cooperation.

It looked as though Snape had been eavesdropping inside the whole time, waiting until Harry and Ron had left before opening the door.

"What is it, Mr. Heath?" Snape appeared in the room and asked Kane quietly.

"Professor, help me!" Kane did not play games with Snape. Believing that sincerity was the ultimate weapon, he laid all his cards on the table and pulled out the spiderweb in his hand. "I won't ask for help for nothing! I'll give you a gift, consider it an early Christmas present."

Although Snape had expected this, he still had not expected Kane to skip all the pleasantries and come directly at him like this...

It was unfamiliar, but strangely easy and effortless.

"Mm. Come in." Snape pulled the door open and let Kane inside.

"Would you like me to make you a cup of tea?" Snape asked from his seat, half polite and half teasing. Yet he did not move at all, his eyes fixed directly on the spiderweb Kane had placed on the tray atop his desk.

"Green tea is fine, thank you."

Snape: "..."

After a moment of silence, he still waved his wand and magically brewed Kane a pot of green tea.

"Professor, I killed a whole bunch of Acromantulas in the Forbidden Forest. I didn't know they were Hagrid's pets before. Do you have a plan?" Kane took a sip from his cup of green tea and asked with a troubled expression.

"How did you find those spiders?" Snape asked quietly.

"With the ball of spider silk Hagrid gave me."

"So it never occurred to you to think about where Hagrid got that ball of spider silk?" Snape rolled his eyes at Kane without the slightest restraint. Truly worthy of Gryffindor.

"I just thought it was an ordinary navigation tool. So, Professor, what can I do now?" Kane scratched his cheek awkwardly.

"Ahem." Snape stared straight at the spiderweb on the tray, making his meaning obvious.

Kane did not hesitate. He pulled out more than half of the spiderweb stuffed into his pockets and placed it all on the tray, piling it into a small mountain.

Snape satisfactorily pulled the tray back. "The properties of this material are remarkably similar to the mucus secreted by Venomous Tentacula bats. Although your potion-making skills are painful to watch, your strange ability is quite useful for potion and alchemy materials."

"So what should I do, Professor?" Kane asked.

"Is Aragog still alive? The biggest spider?" Snape asked specifically. For one thing, if a young wizard like Kane, steeped in Dark magic from birth, had not chosen to lurk around the outskirts and instead had broken through the enormous mass of spiders to forcefully kill Aragog, he might actually have succeeded.

Now Snape needed to know whether Aragog was still alive. If he was, then everyone would be happy. They only needed to feed Aragog a bottle of Memory Potion. After all, Aragog was the only spider in the entire Acromantula colony that could speak, and whenever the professors needed body parts or venom from those spiders, this was usually how they handled it.

And if he was dead...

Well, the spiderweb was already in hand, wasn't it?

Kane gestured with his hands. "Was he an extremely old, terrifyingly huge spider? If so, then he's still alive."

Snape was pleased with the answer. "Hagrid visits his friends in the Forbidden Forest once at the end of every month. He went not long ago this month, so you only need to give Aragog a Memory Potion at the end of next month."

Kane scratched his head. "That's it?" Then he instinctively held out his hand.

"Come get it in two weeks. I needed Acromantula venom some time ago, so I have used up my supply," Snape explained.

"All right, there is still plenty of time anyway." Kane nodded. As for how he was supposed to get the potion into Aragog's mouth, he was not worried in the slightest.

After all, he only needed four more rabbits to make the Spirit Particle Disintegrator. Then he could use Mandrakes to make Panpipes capable of hypnotizing other creatures. One gentle blow would solve what seemed like a difficult problem.

So it was time to begin the next task. Kane smiled at Snape again. "Professor, I remember you have a few rabbits here for potion testing, right?"

"They're in the corner. Take them yourself." After speaking, Snape picked up the tray and returned to the office inside the classroom to study the spiderweb, while Kane walked step by step toward those poor little rabbits.

Soon, Kane had stuffed five rabbits into his pockets. Just as he was about to leave, he turned back to glance at Snape. "Oh, right, Professor, do you know what Hagrid likes?"

"What are you asking that for?"

Kane covered his two wriggling pockets with both hands and laughed sheepishly. "I feel a little bad about it. I thought I'd give him a gift."

"Any creature ordinary people find terrifying and ugly. As long as it moves, he likes it," Snape said concisely.

"Thanks!"

Gryffindor Tower...

Harry and Ron pushed open the door and saw Kane's back. They were about to raise the packed meal they had brought him, but froze once again.

The two stared at the enormous hat-based machine standing in the corner of the dormitory and scratched their heads in confusion. "What is this thing now?"

Kane turned around, gnawing on a roast rabbit. "That machine... I call it... the Spirit Particle Disintegrator!"